Know your rate — now quote at it without flinching
The hard part isn’t the math, it’s charging it with a straight face. ZipplyQuote turns your rate into a clean, branded estimate on your phone, works offline on the jobsite, and lets the customer tap to pay a deposit on the spot. One-time $49, no subscription.
Why your hourly rate has to be higher than your old wage
When you worked for someone else, your $30/hour wage was the visible tip of a much bigger number. Your employer also paid for insurance, tools, the truck, downtime between jobs, holidays, sick days, and all the unpaid admin. On your own, your rate has to cover every one of those — out of only the hours you can actually bill.
And that’s the trap: you might be busy 50 hours a week, but if quoting, driving, buying materials, and chasing invoices eat half of it, you’re only billing 25. The calculator above divides what you need by your real billable hours, which is why the honest number usually surprises people the first time they see it.
How the math works
- Billable hours per year = billable hours per week × weeks worked.
- Break-even rate = (income you want + yearly overhead) ÷ billable hours.
- Rate to charge = break-even rate × (1 + cushion%), so slow weeks and the occasional non-payer don’t sink your year.
Then sanity-check it: the “fully-booked revenue” line shows what you’d gross if every billable hour got billed. If that number looks impossible, your billable hours or your income target need a rethink — far better to find that out now than at tax time.
Next: turn the rate into a job price
Your hourly rate sets your labor line. To price a whole job with materials and a profit margin on top, use the markup & margin calculator, or for work you price by the foot, the square-foot pricing calculator. Then drop the total into a sendable estimate with the free estimate template or the app.
Use it for your trade
Pricing tips and a ready-to-send quote tool for each trade: Plumbing · HVAC · Electrician · Roofing · Painting · Pressure washing · Landscaping · Contractor · House cleaning.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my hourly rate?
Add the income you want + your yearly overhead, divide by your real billable hours for the year, then add a cushion for slow weeks and non-payers. The calculator does it for you.
Why is the number higher than my old wage?
Because your rate now has to cover insurance, tools, the truck, downtime, and unpaid admin — all out of the hours you can actually bill, which are fewer than 40 a week.
How many billable hours should I use?
Your honest number, not 40. Many solo trades truly bill 20–30 hours a week once quoting, driving, and admin are removed.
Is it really free?
Yes — no signup, nothing uploaded. The optional email field just sends a cheat sheet if you want it.
All figures are illustrative and for planning only — you set your own numbers. This is not financial or tax advice.